J-Friends

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

J-FRIENDS
Origin Japan
GenresJ-pop
Years active1997–2003
Labels
Past membersTOKIO
Shigeru Joshima
Tomoya Nagase
Masahiro Matsuoka
Taichi Kokubun
Tatsuya Yamaguchi
V6
Masayuki Sakamoto
Hiroshi Nagano
Yoshihiko Inohara
Go Morita
Ken Miyake
Junichi Okada
KinKi Kids
Koichi Domoto
Tsuyoshi Domoto

J-FRIENDS was a special unit made up of Johnny & Associates groups TOKIO, V6, and KinKi Kids. It was formed in 1997 to raise money for schools affected by the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. Until their disbandment in 2003 they were able to release 6 singles and held some charity concerts and events. In the end they were able to donate 836,951,855 yen.[1]

History[edit]

In 1995, there was a big earthquake in Hanshin and Awaji in Japan. About 6,500 people were dead and 513,000 houses were crushed. To help such people, in 1998, KinKi Kids, along with fellow Johnny's groups V6 and TOKIO, came together to form a special charity-oriented group called J-FRIENDS, they sang songs to raise the money for Hanshin and Awaji earthquake victims especially for children, in which all the songs are created and being produced by many famous international musicians such as Michael Jackson, Maurice White, Diane Warren, Elton John, Jon Bon Jovi,[2] and Koshi Inaba.[3][4][5] J-Friends's first single "Ashita ga Kikoeru/Children's Holiday" (明日が聴こえる/Children's Holiday, "Can You Hear Tomorrow/Children's Holiday"), released on January 21, 1998, went on to sell over a million copies and ranked 12th on the annual Oricon charts by the end of the year.

Discography[edit]

EPs[edit]

Title Album details Peak Certifications
JPN
[6]
People of the World
  • Released: January 13, 1999
  • Label: Sony Music Records
  • Formats: CD
1
  • RIAJ: 2× Platinum[7]

Singles[edit]

Title Year Peak Certifications
JPN
[6]
"Ashita ga Kikoeru" 1998 1
  • RIAJ: Million[8]
"Children's Holiday"
"Next 100 Years" 1999 1
  • RIAJ: 2× Platinum[9]
"I Will Get There" 2000 1
"Always (A Song for Love)" 2001 1
"Love Me All Over" 2002 1

Videos[edit]

Title Release details Peak Certifications
JPN
[6]
Never Ending Spirit 1997–2003
  • Released: April 9, 2003
  • Label: Johnny's Entertainment
  • Formats: VHS, DVD
1

References[edit]

  1. ^ "神戸にしっかり刻まれたJ-FRIENDSの足跡". Sankei Sports. March 18, 2004. Archived from the original on April 14, 2004. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "J-FRIENDS東京ドーム年越しライブ" (in Japanese). Sankei Sports. November 11, 1999. Archived from the original on December 10, 2000. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  3. ^ "Next 100 Years" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  4. ^ "Love Me All Over" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  5. ^ "People of the World" (in Japanese). Johnny's net. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c "J-FRIENDS" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014.
  7. ^ "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – People Of The World" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1999年1月 on the drop-down menu
  8. ^ "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – 明日が聴こえる/Children's Holiday" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1998年2月 on the drop-down menu
  9. ^ "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – NEXT 100 YEARS" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2000年1月 on the drop-down menu
  10. ^ "Japanese certifications – J-FRIENDS – ALWAYS(A SONG FOR LOVE)" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2001年12月 on the drop-down menu
  11. ^ "Japanese certifications – J-Friends – Never Ending Spirit 1997-2003" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2003年7月 on the drop-down menu